ROTTINGDEAN PRESERVATION SOCIETY

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, WEDNESDAY 16 DECEMBER 2020 4.00 pm The Village Hall Rottingdean

1. Present
Christopher Davidson (Chair), Robert Upward (Vice Chair), Colin Dellar, Barry Wright (Membership Secretary), Susan Swinnerton (Treasurer), Rowena Bennett (Minutes)
In total 25 members were also present.

Apologies: Anne Johnson, Roy and Christine Wales, Rowland and Marian Myers, Adrian Wood, Norman Cuddeford, Sue Jones, Michael and Susan Greenslade.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained its principal purpose, namely a change in the Society’s Rules.

Rowena Bennett explained that various Covid 19 procedures in accordance with government guidelines had been followed to ensure that members felt safe to attend the AGM. Sue Swinnerton had ticked off attendees from the membership list as they arrived for Track and Trace, the chairs were spaced out to enable social distancing, everyone was wearing a face covering, and members were requested to leave slowly at the end of the meeting starting with those at the back and therefore nearest to the exit door.

2. Minutes of the 2019 AGM
These had been circulated in advance, were approved unanimously and then signed by the Chair.

3. Matters arising from the 2019 Minutes
There were none.

4. Chair’sReport–ChristopherDavidson Presentation of Accounts
The Chair gave a brief review of 2020. He outlined the enthusiastic response from many volunteer stewards at the re-opening of the Gallery at the end of the first lockdown and the extraordinary public response to the opening up of the Windmill to predominantly local people. He assured members that a full programme of exhibitions is still in place for 2021 and that the Christmas Fair running at the time of the AGM was proving to be successful. He thanked Sue Backhouse and her team for their work on the Grange gardens throughout the year resulting in more awards and appreciation.

The Final Accounts for 2019/2020 as examined had formed part of the Annual Report circulated to all members several weeks before the AGM. These were proposed by John Blackman, seconded by Jean Talbot and approved by the meeting.

5. Election of Executive Committee
The Chair paid tribute to a number of people who had decided to stand down during 2020 – namely Anne Johnson, Anne-Sara Odor and Marcus Bagshawe.
All the remaining/current committee members had agreed to stand again. The following were proposed by David Hunt and seconded by Kyri Soupporis: Christopher Davidson (Chair), Rowena Bennett (Secretary) and committee members Robert Upward, Colin Dellar, and Barry Wright.
The Chair introduced two new committee members. Susan Swinnerton (to replace Anne Johnson as Treasurer) and Sue Jones. Their appointments were proposed by Roger Hanlon and seconded by Heather Wright and approved by the meeting.

6. Resolutions
The following Resolutions were placed before the meeting having been circulated in advance as part of the Annual Report and Accounts:
Resolution 1
“That the name of the Society be changed from Rottingdean Preservation Society to Rottingdean Heritage and that Rule 1 shall be amended to read “1. The Society shall be called Rottingdean Heritage (hereinafter referred to as the Society)”
This Resolution was proposed by Mike Laslett and seconded by David Hunt. It was approved by the meeting unanimously.
Resolution 2
“That in order to enable members in future to vote by proxy, post or electronic mail, Rule 14 shall be amended as follows by the addition of new sub clauses 14A and 14B in the following form:
14 (existing rule)
Subject as hereinbefore provided voting at all meetings of the Society or of the Committee shall be by a show of hands unless the Chairman shall decide that voting shall be by ballot. In the case of equality of votes the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote.
14A Proxy voting
(a) Any member of the Society may appoint another person as a proxy to exercise all or any of that member’s rights to attend, speak and vote at a general meeting of the Society. Proxies must be appointed by a notice in writing (a “proxy notice”) which:
(i) states the name and address of the member appointing the proxy;
(ii) identifies the person appointed to be that member’s proxy and the general meeting in relation to which that person is appointed;
(iii) is signed by or on behalf of the member appointing the proxy; and
(iv) is delivered to the Society in accordance with the constitution and any instructions contained in the notice of the general meeting to which they relate.

(b) Unless a proxy notice indicates otherwise, it must be treated as:
(i) allowing the person appointed under it as a proxy discretion as to how to vote on any ancillary or procedural resolutions put to the meeting; and
(ii) appointing that person as a proxy in relation to any adjournment of the general meeting to which it relates as well as the meeting itself.
14B Postal Voting
(a) The Society may, if the Officers so decide, allow the members to vote by post or electronic mail (“email”) to elect Officers or to make a decision on any matter that is being decided at a general meeting of the members.
(b) The Vice-Chair and Secretary will serve as scrutineers to supervise the conduct of the postal/email ballot and the counting of votes.
(c) If postal and/or email voting is to be allowed on a matter, the Society must send to members of the Society not less than 14 days before the deadline for receipt of votes cast in this way a notice by email or post, including an explanation of the purpose of the vote and the voting procedure to be followed by the member, and a voting form capable of being returned by email or post to the Society , containing details of the resolution being put to a vote, or of the candidates for election, as applicable, and the address and email address to which the voting form is to be returned.
(d) The voting procedure must specify the closing date and time for receipt of votes, and must state that any votes received after the closing date or not complying with the voting procedure will be invalid and not be counted.
(e) A member who has cast a valid postal or email vote must not vote at the meeting, and must not be counted in the quorum for any part of the meeting on which he, she or it has already cast a valid vote. A member who has cast an invalid vote by post or email is allowed to vote at the meeting and counts towards the quorum.
(f) Votes cast by post or email must be counted by all the scrutineers before the meeting at which the vote is to be taken. The scrutineers must provide to the person chairing the meeting written confirmation of the number of valid votes received by post and email and the number of votes received which were invalid.
(g) The result of the postal/email ballot must not be disclosed until after votes taken by hand or by poll at the meeting, or by poll after the meeting, have been counted. Only at this point shall the person chairing the meeting declare the result of the valid votes received, and these votes shall be included in the declaration of the result of the vote.
(h) Following the final declaration of the result of the vote, the scrutineers must provide to a charity trustee or other authorised person bundles containing the evidence of members submitting valid postal votes; evidence of members submitting valid email votes; evidence of invalid votes; the valid votes; and the invalid votes.

There was a short debate on Resolution 2 with useful and constructive points being made by Rosemary Johnson, Andrew Clark and Jean Talbot. This Resolution was proposed by Roger Hanlon and seconded by Trevor Hopper and then approved by the meeting unanimously.

7. Any other business
The Chair spoke briefly about the future. He described the need to increase membership and the hope that the name change will encourage younger people to join, and then outlined the current position on the William Nicholson reverse glass panels and ongoing discussions with the National Trust. A few questions were raised on the proposed Nicolson Room and the existing Kipling Room. The success of the book swap in the former BT phone kiosk was noted.
As there was not any other business, the Chair thanked everyone for coming. The meeting concluded at 4.50pm.

These minutes will be approved at the next meeting of the Rottingdean Heritage Committee on Friday 8th January 2021.